Coronavirus: Consumers in Dubai file 784 price hike complaints in 2 weeks

As many as 784 complaints were registered with Dubai authorities related to price hikes in two weeks of launching awareness campaign, according to a press statement issued by Dubai Economy on Wednesday.

Dubai Economy's Commercial Compliance & Consumer Protection (CCCP) department had set up a new portal price.ded.ae for consumers to submit complaints related to price increase.

Ahmed Al Zaabi, Director of the Consumer Protection in Dubai Economy, said: "We are keen to provide different channels that consumers of all ages and segments can use to protect their rights. We received 71% of complaints related to price increases through the price.ded.ae portal during the last two weeks while 29% came through the Dubai Consumer application."

He said the CCCP team verifies the accuracy of such complaints by looking at all available evidence and comparing existing bills with previous ones. The team may also resort to field and electronic inspection of the merchant's price list and other methods. If the complaint it found to be valid, the merchant is asked to go back to the original price or risk a penalty for not co-operating.

Al Zaabi added: "We commend consumers for alerting us on malpractices, thereby helping us to protect them in these exceptional circumstances, which require concerted efforts to ensure stability in the market."

Consumers can submit complaints related to price hikes through the Dubai Consumer app available on the Apple, Google, and Huawei stores, the price.ded.ae website, or by calling 600 54 5555.

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com